Force India impressed by Ocon ability

Force India said it was impressed by Esteban Ocon as the French youngster tested for the squad at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Wednesday.

Ocon returned to Formula 1 action for the first time since his outing for Lotus at the end of 2014 and he completed 94 laps in the VJM08 on his way to the sixth best time.

"It has been a pleasure working with Esteban, who is clearly a very talented young driver with a bright future ahead of him," said Tom McCullough, Chief Race Engineer.

"Due to the late call-up, he was at the track until quite late last night completing the seat-fit and getting comfortable in the VJM08. We also had to get him up-to-speed with some of the systems on the car and the steering wheel."

Ocon, who leads this year's nascent GP3 championship, says he was pleased with his day in the car.

"I was very happy to get the opportunity to drive and I’m pleased with how things went," he said.

"It’s always good to get more experience in a Formula One car and I’ve learned a huge amount about this car and this team. We worked on a lot of things – mainly on the aero side and we completed most of the things we had planned.

"The team has given me some good feedback and I improved during the day – step by step with each run."